This invention relates to an improved wide-range towing hitch which may be used to couple a trailing vehicle to a towing vehicle, without having to precisely position the towing vehicle in a position for coupling the two vehicles together as is the case with conventional towing hitches.
Various wide-range tow hitches are known such as described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,622,182 to Grosse-Rhode; U.S. Pat. No. 4,265,465 to Deitrich, Sr.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,515,387 to Schuck; U.S. Pat. No. 3,279,825 to Boutwell; U.S. Pat. No. 3,126,210 to Hill; U.S. Pat. No. 3,140,881 to Antici; U.S. Pat. No. 4,603,878 to Smith, Jr.; and U.S. Pat. No. 3,243,202 to Carson.
Previous wide-range trailer hitches have generally extended to the rear of the towing vehicle beyond the bumper where they could bump into other objects when the hitch was not in use. In many cases a locking pin handle extended upward from the hitch where it was possible to snag clothing or to catch an operator as he worked around the trailer hitch. Further, some of these trailer hitches had a complicated internal structure to achieve the capability of positioning a drawbar throughout a given range to match a towing ball with a ball hitch on the towed vehicle. A wide-range trailer hitch is needed which combines the better features of the conventional trailer hitches to provide an improved trailer hitch which has fewer and simpler components, is simple to manufacture, mounts out of the way of an operator when the trailer hitch is not in use, is protected from mud and water being splashed by the rear wheels of a towing vehicle, and has a locking pin handle positioned alongside the trailer hitch to reduce the possibility of snags or injury.